Fresh Water Clam Shell Hoe

[monsterrack]

I was asked to make this for a museum, a fresh water clam shell hoe and thought some of you would like to see it. So since I'm recovering from the slice and dice surgery I thought I would post this. Not all NA had the stone in their area to make farming tools so they had to use what they could find. This may answer some thoughts on why you don't find stone hoe's in your area. They used bone a lot along with shell and wood. Comments and photo's are welcome.

 

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[crj1968]

Very cool and nicely done.

Has a real one ever been found in tact that you know of?

 

[monsterrack]

Very cool and nicely done.

Has a real one ever been found in tact that you know of?

Yes , this is the one I used has a model.

 

[sawmill man]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting and good work.

 

[old digger]

That is really cool, you did a fantastic job.

 

[arrow86]

Awesome ! Nicely done

 

[reuellis]

Well done, thanks for sharing!

 

[Indian Steve]

Very Nice! Did you make you own cordage?

 

[monsterrack]

Very Nice! Did you make you own cordage?

Yes that is twisted plant fiber.

 

[welsbury]

Nicely made. Have you ever used one to dig with? Just wondering how well they would hold up.

 

[rock]

Never thought about that before. We have some huge freshwater clams here.

 

[Indian Steve]

That is some fine looking cordage! I use a lot of Dogbane for cordage.

 

[Jeff H]

Nice craftsmanship. I can see that blade holding up pretty well in fairly clean soil. As a kid we would use big hard shell clam shells to dig for soft shell clams on rocky beaches. A nice feature of that hoe is that you could change out a broken blade pretty quickly.

 

[tnmudman]

That is so cool really nice job i bet it works too

 

[coosakid]

Cool, interesting​, and very good work


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[monsterrack]

Shells along the Gulf Coast, Fl. ,other states and any where they could be found were used for knifes, spoons, cups and ornaments. The Spider shell gorget from Moundsville Al. is a great example. In Fl. conch shell were tied onto a stick after make holes in them and used for war clubs.

 

[Tnmountains]

As always excellent work. Your skill lever is very high. I have noticed the clam shells are not as thick as the once were. Very nice tool.

 

[Charl]

Shells along the Gulf Coast, Fl. ,other states and any where they could be found were used for knifes, spoons, cups and ornaments. The Spider shell gorget from Moundsville Al. is a great example. In Fl. conch shell were tied onto a stick after make holes in them and used for war clubs.

Here in southern New England, it's recognized that shells were used as hoes. Apparently, some have been found with notches and were hafted somewhat differently then the model used for your own excellent reconstruction.

Another use for quahog(aka hardshell clam) was for pottery decoration. A friend of mine found a quahog shell like the one seen in the second photo. It had a series of 8-10 neat square notches set into the curved edge. This would allow the creation of a dashed or interrupted line when the shell was rocked. One of the coolest shell artifacts I have seen.

I also find the columns of whelk or conch shells with one end sharpened. I always assumed they could be shell awls. A friend, and knowledgeable collector from Florida, who also finds these sharpened whelk/conch columns suggested another use: clam forks for spearing and gulping down clams or quahogs on the half shell, like the 2 or 3 pronged clam forks we use today...

 

[ptsofnc]

Really nice! Hope you fully recover and are able to get back out there soon!